Bucks make Mohr new coach, to start local Canales in net Friday

The 2018-19 Laredo Bucks play their first home game of the 2018-19 inaugural USACHL season on Friday at 7 p.m. inside Sames Auto Arena against the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees.

The 2018-19 Laredo Bucks play their first home game of the 2018-19 inaugural USACHL season on Friday at 7 p.m. inside Sames Auto Arena against the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees.

Photo: Cuate Santos /Laredo Morning Times

Photo: Cuate Santos /Laredo Morning Times

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The 2018-19 Laredo Bucks play their first home game of the 2018-19 inaugural USACHL season on Friday at 7 p.m. inside Sames Auto Arena against the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees.

The 2018-19 Laredo Bucks play their first home game of the 2018-19 inaugural USACHL season on Friday at 7 p.m. inside Sames Auto Arena against the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees.

Photo: Cuate Santos /Laredo Morning Times

Bucks make Mohr new coach, to start local Canales in net Friday

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After six seasons without hockey in Laredo, the Bucks are making their highly-anticipated return to their home ice this week.

It wasn’t easy. In fact, it took a completely new junior hockey league being formed to bring them back. Yet the Bucks are ready to go for the 2018-19 season with their home opener Friday at 7 p.m. against their longtime rivals in the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees at Sames Auto Arena.

And amazingly, the team will be making its debut in the city already with its second head coach this season. Former Boston Bruins Stanley Cup-winning director of scouting Wayne Smith was tabbed the team’s leader in the offseason, but he is now out after one away game. Instead, assistant coach Jarred Mohr will take his place in the top spot.

USA Central Hockey League director of sales and marketing Kevin Lovig told LMT that Smith is departing due to a personal issue. Lovig added that he is expected to remain on with the league in another capacity, perhaps scouting, when he returns after taking some time off.

Smith could not be reached for comment before press time.

Instead, Mohr steps in as he will be the franchise’s fourth coach in history. Terry Ruskowski coached nine years with the team while it was in the Central Hockey League while Serge Dube led the way in their final season during 2011-12.

Mohr played for Ruskowski in 2009-10 when he was an All-Star defenseman for the Bucks. He also has ties to the area with his wife, Jessica. A Saskatchewan, Regina, Canada native, Mohr played 125 games for the Bucks over two seasons from 2009-11. He competed 13 years during his career, and prior to this season, he had been working with Total Package Hockey in Atlanta as a skill instructor.

“It was a privilege getting to know Wayne Smith. He was a great guy and I wish him the best of luck wherever he goes,” Mohr said. “With that being said, I’m absolutely thrilled to take over the Laredo Bucks head coaching position. For myself, it’s kind of like winning the lottery. Coming down here and reuniting with family and old friends, and being in the arena I had some of my best years as a player — it’s just home for me. It’s a tremendous honor, and I will do the best I can to show the fans in Laredo some good hockey.”

The Bucks are returning to the Gateway City thanks to the USACHL, which is in its inaugural season. The league was hoping to get between 4-6 teams for its first campaign, and it settled with four including the Bucks, Killer Bees, Wichita Falls Force and the Texas Lawmen — the latter being based in McAllen.

There’s plenty on the line this year for the USACHL. Smith told LMT previously that there’s been a lot of interest from other potential areas to join the league next season and bring about a significant expansion. But Laredo won’t worry about more competition until next year, as the group will focus on its three current opponents.

The Bucks play a 48-game schedule that kicked off during the last week of October and runs through the final week of March. The teams will play each other 16 times with eight coming both at home and on the road. After that, the squads will head to the postseason as all four qualify. There will be a best-of-three series in both the semifinals and finals to determine the USACHL’s first champion.

The overall league regular-season standings will be based on a points system, similar to the NHL. Teams will get two points for a victory as well as one for an overtime or shootout loss. If a game is tied at the end of regulation, the teams will play a period of 3-on-3 hockey before heading to the shootout to determine a winner.

Junior hockey will be a new experience for the city of Laredo, which hasn’t seen hockey since its professional team left following the 2012 campaign. The Bucks were highly popular in the city and were one of the CHL’s top squads, finishing its stretch from 2002-12 with a record of 368-213-22-37 (W-L-OTL-SOL) — a win percentage of nearly 62 percent.

During the Bucks’ 10 years, they went to the finals in four straights seasons from 2003-04 through 2006-07 and brought back two championships (2003-04, 2005-06). They made the playoffs their first eight seasons but missed the field during their final two.

Laredo’s attendance its first campaign averaged 6,683 fans per game but decreased every season. Their final non-postseason years saw it slip to under 4,000 for the first time as they averaged 3,573 in 2010-11 before pulling in 2,358 their final season in 2011-12.

But the city has clamored for hockey to return since its departure, and now the Bucks are back on the ice this week locally. They do have an unfortunate date for a home opener Friday — sharing the day with the Alexander-United local football game as the two district unbeatens and fierce rivals battle for the 29-6A title.

Yet Laredo’s oldest rivalry in Martin and Nixon also opened the football season against one another, and the Tecolotes Dos Laredos baseball team still had an attendance that night of 3,643 — they averaged 4,256 all year. That game wasn’t anywhere near the importance of a return debut, instead coming at the end of a rough first Mexican Baseball League season of 2018 for the last-place squad which finished 18-39, so there still should be plenty of fans to go around for both matchups.

“It’s a big week here in Laredo,” Mohr said. “Finally hockey is back this Friday night. There’s a buzz in town, and obviously the players are feeding off of it. The community and town thus far have embraced us. Having played here before, it’s kind of like I never left. People from Laredo are really good showing their hospitality. In the community, they always took care of us. It’s just a big week here and the kids are pumped.”

Unfortunately, Friday will be the lone chance for Laredo fans to see their team play at home this month. The Bucks’ schedule opens with 10 of their first 11 games on the road, stretching all the way until Dec. 2. The team will then return to Sames Auto Arena for five straight at home starting Dec. 8 against Wichita Falls and lasting through the end of the month on Dec. 29 also against the Force.

Laredo started off play on Oct. 26 and had a rough outing to say the least. The Bucks lost 4-0 at RGV, getting outshot 39-24 and struggling all night on the power play. Smith challenged the team after the opener saying the players "didn’t give an effort or compete level that was acceptable."

The coaching staff wasn’t ready to use it, but the Bucks had a reasonable excuse for their Game 1 struggles as the team was undermanned. The group had only 15 players available along including just three total defensemen. That was due to Smith waiting just a little longer for junior hockey league overflow cuts happening right now as he expected better quality talent to be available than what was out there weeks ago.

The lack of players meant some were competing out of position for their first game against the Bees. Still, the way they lost wasn’t OK for the Bucks’ coaching staff, as they also noted RGV similarly had only 14 players.

The Bucks had a built-in game for redemption with Game 2. Laredo had a rematch of their opener getting the Bees again on the road on Sunday. Unfortunately, a water line break at State Farm Hidalgo Arena postponed the outing to be made up at a later date.

That means the Bucks’ revenge will have to wait for this week’s first home game. And they’ll be turning to a local product to spearhead that effort.

Laredo goaltender John Canales will be making his season debut on Friday against the Bees. He will be starting the matchup as the first-ever Laredo-born player in the Bucks’ 11-year history. The 20-year-old United alumnus has been playing in the San Antonio Jr. Rampage system, and he impressed Smith at the inaugural USACHL tryout in Chicago during mid-August to earn a roster spot. Canales was the team’s first official signing of the 2018-19 season.

“Bringing the team back to Laredo is a big honor,” Canales said. “Being able to be part of it is a dream come true. Growing up watching these guys play was always a great experience. Having guys from all around the world coming to Laredo to bring a brotherhood together is great. Every day we go out on the ice and build chemistry together. It’s a great experience. I’m a Longhorn fan myself so I’m rooting for them (Friday), but I hope everybody comes out here and we pack this house.”

Canales is joined in net by Gordon Andrews and Rustam Kulizade. The latter started the opening game at RGV and was perhaps the team’s most impressive player. The 17-year-old Russian made numerous diving stops and drew rave reviews from Smith afterwards. While he gave up four goals on the day, he was pounded in net as the Bees were in Laredo’s zone all night.

Andrews was expected to start Game 2 on Sunday before the game was pushed back. Following Canales’ home start, Andrews may be in line to get on the ice on Nov. 11 in Laredo’s next game against the Lawmen. The 19-year-old native of Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan competed for the Tri-City IceHawks out of the U.S. Premier Hockey League a year ago.

The rest of the Bucks’ defense is made up of four defensemen at the moment, as they will likely sign more over the coming weeks.

The group is headlined by its Game 1 starters Tyler Kupka and Maxim Gorshkov. Kupka is a 19 year old out of Depew, New York who has played the past four years in the Western States Hockey League for four different teams. Gorshkov, 17, has competed the past two years in his native Russia. He played for Vityaz Podolsk a year ago in the Russia U16 as they finished a league-best 16-1-0-1 in the first round and took the second-best record at 9-2-2-1 in the second round.

Rounding out the rest of the defensemen are Pavel Simak and Nathan VanBuskirk. Simak is a 19 year old from the Czech Republic. He’s played the last two years in the USPHL and WSHL for the Kalkaska Rhinos and Cold Lake Wings, respectively. VanBuskirk, 20, joins Andrews as he is their second player from Sault Ste. Marie that played with the USPHL’s Tri-City. Friday will be his first game with the Bucks.

“It’s a lot different from back home and a lot hotter,” Kupka said. “It’s fun getting to know all the boys coming in. There have been some bumps in the road, but we’re getting there. Everything is all good, and we’re excited for the season. We’re pumped for the home opener. The boys are excited.”

With the defensive corps still down to just four players, the team’s remaining forwards may have to again shift over to cover up for some shallow depth spots. And during their last game, it was their captain that most notably made the move.

All four of the Bucks’ leadership positions came from their group of 10 forwards. The captain Sam Pollock was one of the coaches’ few bright spots during their season opener despite having to play on the defensive line. The 19 year old from Ottawa, Ontario has competed the past two seasons in the Central Canada Hockey League for the Ottawa Jr. Canadians.

Pollock’s three assistants, or alternate captains, this year are Hunter Hall, Brad Richardson and Jake Santarelli. Hall, 19, is one of seven U.S. natives on the roster as he’s from Moorhead, Minnesota. Hall played in the USPHL a year ago for the Daytona Racers. Richardson is a 19 year old from Nepean, Canada who played the past two years with four teams in the CCHL. His father, Bryan, played at RPI before competing 12 years professionally. And Santarelli, 18, is from Orchard Park, New York and played a year ago for the Buffalo Regals of the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League.

“I’ve heard I have big shoes to fill. There have been a lot of great captains from this team,” Pollock said. “I hope to lead the boys to a championship this year. It’s a good speed. It’s not going to be a pushover league for sure. There are going to be a lot of tough games this year. We’re going to have to battle hard and get things going. We have a lot of work ahead.”

During the first game, Richardson and Santarelli were joined on the first line with Jan Sokolik. The 20 year old played in the United States and his native Czech Republic last year competing for the Cavaliers in the European University Hockey League before playing in the USPHL with Kalkaska and Tri-City.

The Bucks have four other foreign forwards coming in to round out the roster as all are experiencing a much different view of the world on the border in Laredo from their native countries.

Nick Babcock and Mitch Mercier are each coming in from Canada. Babcock is the youngest player on the team at 16. The Kingston, Ontario native played the past two years with the Greater Kingston Frontenacs out of the Eastern AAA Hockey League. He is the son of Shawn Babcock, a former third-round pick of the Edmonton Oilers in 1980. Mercier, 18, is the second player on the Bucks from Nepean. He competed in the CCHL the past two years with the Richmond Royals. Mercier’s father, Jeff, also made an impact in the hockey world as he is a Hall of Famer at RIT in New York.

Yauheni Lavrov joins the Bucks out of Belarus. The 17 year old competed earlier this year at the DME Sports Academy in Daytona Beach, Florida as part of the USPHL. Valeriy Visitskiy, 19, is the third Russian-born player on the roster. He competed last year for the Grey Highlands Hawks and the Potomac Patriots out of the Canadian Premier Junior Hockey League and USPHL, respectively.

“It has been really good,” Lavrov said. “I like the city and the team is really good. It is a big difference. It’s a huge rink and there are more fans here. It’s better hockey.”

The team does have one final player in Griffen Medina, although his status right now is up in the air. The 19-year-old native of Freeland, Michigan had to leave the team before the season due to a family matter. He is said to be out indefinitely. Medina played for three teams last year in the USPHL including Kalkaska, Tri-City and the Minnesota Mullets.